The invention pertains to safety ski bindings, and more particularly to ski bindings facilitating both horizontal and vertical safety release, for both cross-country and downhill skiing.
Many skiers are injured in falls during skiing, because in such falls skiers' legs are often subjected to violent torques, resulting from the fact that the skier's body is tumbling, while the skis are restrained from free tumbling motion by collision with the ground. Such torques frequently result in broken bones, or at least in torn ligaments.
The general approach to this problem has been to employ ski bindings having safety release features, intended to release the ski boot from the ski during a fall, so as to prevent such injuries.
The problem is, however, complicated by the fact that a variety of relative horizontal and vertical motions (of the ski boot and the ski) are involved in various skiing activities. Different relative motions are involved in cross-country skiing, than are involved in downhill skiing.
It is desirable to provide a combined front (toe) and rear (heel) ski binding of simple construction, in which both the front and rear bindings have release motion capability, and in which the release motions of the front and rear bindings cooperate, so as to provide for either horizontal, vertical, or oblique release of the ski boot, as appropriate, for use in either cross-country or downhill skiing situations.
Appliant's invention deals with this problem, by providing a front binding assembly which is rotatable for downhill skiing, but which may be locked against rotation for cross-country skiing. The rear binding assembly has a reversed but otherwise conventional "Cubco" type front binding, secured to a heel latch assembly on the ski boot, the latch being open during cross-country skiing to allow vertical release of the ski boot, and being locked during downhill skiing; however, the reversed "Cubco" binding will allow either vertical or horizontal release during downhill skiing, and horizontal release is facilitated by the allowed rotation of the front binding.
The patent of Marks (U.S. Pat. No. 4,188,045) discloses a safety ski binding having a base plate which rotates about a disk secured to the ski (col 2, lines 30-35; FIG. 1, ref. Nos. 1 and 3). The patent discloses a complex mechanism unlike that of applicant, for locking the base plate against rotation, involving a bar with a detent recess, engaged by a pin driven by leaf springs (col. 2, lines 35-42; FIG. 1, ref. Nos. 5, 6 and 7). The structure disclosed in Marks is more complex and quite different than applicant's in other respects, involving a boot carrier frame and a spring-loaded cable and winder assembly, unlike applicant's ski binding (FIG. 1, ref. Nos. 12, 22 and 23; col 2, line 51--col 3, line 26). Also the base plate rotates about a point near the heel of the ski boot, rather than the toe as in applicant's ski binding (FIG. 1, ref. Nos. 3 and 19; col 1, line 6; col 2, line 66).
The patent of Whitaker (U.S. Pat. No. 2,686,059) discloses a safety ski binding having a rotatable heel plate, which is not, however, attached to the ski itself, but rather to a cross bar attached to hinged arms secured to the ski (col 2, lines 38-48; FIGS. 7-8, ref. Nos. 23, 27, 28, 29 and 31). The structure is generally quite different and more complex than applicant's, involving a wire cable and a toggle activated tensioning and release mechanism (col. 2, lines 28-33; FIG. 7, ref. Nos. 19, 21 and 22).
Applicant is not aware of any patent or other prior art disclosing a ski binding comparable to that of his invention, which is further described below.